The Dead Sea is a lake located in the southwestern of Asia. It is the Earth's lowest surface, located 420 meters (1,380 feet) below sea level.[4] The sea is drying up as basin countries use water from its tributaries for drinking water and processes like irrigation.[5]
| Dead Sea | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Coordinates | 31°30′N 35°30′E / 31.500°N 35.500°E |
| Lake type | Endorheic Hypersaline |
| Primary inflows | Jordan River |
| Primary outflows | None |
| Catchment area | 41,650 km2 (16,080 sq mi) |
| Basin countries | Israel, Jordan and Palestine |
| Max. length | 50 km (31 mi)[1] |
| Max. width | 15 km (9.3 mi)[1] |
| Surface area | 605 km2 (234 sq mi) |
| Average depth | 200 m (656 ft)[2] |
| Max. depth | 306 m (1,004 ft) |
| Water volume | 114 km3 (27 cu mi)[2] |
| Shore length1 | 135 km (84 mi) |
| Surface elevation | −427 m (−1,401 ft)[3] |
| References | [2][3] |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
The Dead Sea is almost nine times as salty as the ocean[6] because a lot of water evaporates out of it, leaving salt behind.[7] Most life cannot survive its high salinity, which is why it is called the "Dead Sea". However, some microbes have adapted to the high salinity and are able to survive in the Dead Sea's harsh environment.[8]
Because the water is so salty, it weighs more than fresh water. This allows people to float in the Dead Sea without any effort. Tourists come from around the world to float in the water.
Gallery
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A rough Dead Sea, with salt deposits on cliffs -
Reading a newspaper while floating in the Dead Sea -
View of salt evaporation pans on the Dead Sea, taken in 1989 from the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-28). -
The decreasing water level of the Dead Sea
References
change- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Virtual Israel Experience: The Dead Sea". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Dead Sea Data Summary 2012.Water Authority of Israel. The World Bank - 'The Red Sea - Dead Sea Water Conveyance Study Program' - 2013 Archived 2013-09-15 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Monitoring of the Dead Sea". Israel Marine Data Center (ISRAMAR). Archived from the original on 2010-11-27. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
- ↑ Connolly, Kevin (2016-06-16). "Dead Sea drying: A new low-point for Earth". BBC News. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
- ↑ Berman, Ofir (2022-12-11). "The Dead Sea is dying. These beautiful, ominous photos show the impact". NPR. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-11-01. Retrieved 2007-10-09.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ↑ "Why is the sea salty? | Natural History Museum". www.nhm.ac.uk. Retrieved 2025-02-06.
- ↑ Al-Daghistani, Hala I.; Zein, Sima; Abbas, Manal A. (2024-12-31). "Microbial communities in the Dead Sea and their potential biotechnological applications". Communicative & Integrative Biology. 17 (1). doi:10.1080/19420889.2024.2369782. ISSN 1942-0889. PMC 11197920. PMID 38919836.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: PMC format (link)
Other websites
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Media related to Dead Sea at Wikimedia Commons